


Speed Reading

by theartofdreaming



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Spoilers for Harry Potter Book 5 and Book 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 19:13:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6718015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theartofdreaming/pseuds/theartofdreaming
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In July 2007, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was first released. Back then, Barry really would have had a good use for speed reading - if only to be able to keep up with his best friend. Instead, he has to deal with an exuberant, highly-caffeinated Iris West while reading the shocking and amazing last few chapters of said book. It's anything but easy.<br/>Fortunately, just a few years later, they are finally evenly matched.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Speed Reading

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a little jumpy narrative-wise, sorry ^^;  
> As mentioned in the tag, I kinda spoil the seventh book and a scene from the fifth book - you have been warned ;)

“Iris, would you please stop staring at me? You're distracting me,” Barry groaned, shooting her an exasperated look.

“Fine... I promise I will stop staring at you,” Iris giggled, squirming in Barry's desk chair, “as long as you promise to read a bit faster!” Barry let out an exhausted sigh. 

“Honestly, I'm doing my best here,” he tossed another stern glance at his best friend, who was now spinning in his chair restlessly, “considering the circumstances.” 

Iris gave him a mischievous look in return: “I wouldn't annoy you so much if you just finished the book!”

Barry let out another sigh, silently admitting defeat. The only way to get out of this horrendous situation was to read the final page of the book in his hands: _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_.

 

Both Iris and him were huge fans of this book series (and the movies, for that matter) and had waited impatiently for the seventh book to be released. Of course they had pre-ordered it – two copies, as Joe had noted in disbelief (the detective did not understand the need of having the exact same book twice in the same household) – so they could read it simultaneously and discuss it immediately after finishing. At first, their plan had worked out perfectly – as soon as the mailman had dropped off the books, the two teenagers had snatched one copy each and barricaded themselves in their rooms. Even though it was a Wednesday, they both had been able to easily clear their schedules – since they had graduated high school a couple of weeks prior and strictly instructed Joe to not disturb them at any time.

But while Barry indubitably was the bigger nerd of the two of them (and the cutest one she knew, as Iris insisted fervently), Iris definitely was the greater 'potterhead'. She had every little detail memorized (book- or movie-wise): names, spells, trivia about magical creatures could be accessed any time, everywhere. This conviction and passion unleashed an astounding ability of hers: speed reading. Iris did not simply read very fast, she devoured the book in a matter of hours. 

This exceptional skill of hers was the reason why Barry was in this precarious situation in the first place. He was by no means a slow reader (on the contrary, since he was a rather avid one), but there was no way he could possibly match Iris's reading rate. Especially not when she was **this** excited about a book. 

When he was still trying to come to grips with the fact that Snape ( _**Snape!** _ ) had been on the side of the good guys the whole time (much less been in love with Harry's mom since he was a child) and Harry was having a horcrux inside of him (which meant that he had to sacrifice himself, die –  _**what kind of book for kids** _ _–_ _**or young adults** _ _–_ _**lets the protagonist die, anyway? These books are named after him** _ **!** ), a short, energetic knock on his door was the only advance warning Barry got before Iris practically stormed into his room, eyes wide with excitement. She closed the door hurriedly and spun around to face him, ready to review every single detail – and froze when she saw the amount of remaining pages he still had to read through.

“You've got to be kidding me,” – Barry squirmed nervously, suddenly feeling guilty though he hadn't done anything besides reading for the past 5 hours – “I even went downstairs for coffee to give you some more time!” Iris threw her hands up in outrage, shaking her head.

“Ehm... sorry?” Barry gave her a sheepish smile, untangling his legs from his crosslegged position on the bed; too late – they were already numb. 

“The only apology I will accept is for you to hurry up and read!” Iris shouted with urgency, motioning for Barry to pick up where he had left off.

He bowed his head in compliance, refocusing on the hero on his way to the Forbidden Forest, while Iris was pacing up and down. Barry's eyes were flittering across the page, when he suddenly felt Iris's warm breath on his neck. He went rigid and could feel a luscious blush spreading over his face. 

“What are you doing?” he gulped, eyes still transfixed on the book.

“I just wanted to see what chapter you're at,” Iris said nonchalantly, her breath still tickling the nape of his neck. Then she went back to walking around in Barry's room, before settling into his chair: “The next chapter is gonna surpri-”

“Shhhh!” Barry hissed, recovering from the stupor Iris's closeness had put him in, “No spoilers!”

“Fine, I'm just going to sit here quietly, waiting for you to finish it,” Iris conceded.

“Thank you.” Barry nodded, returning his attention to the book. Again, his eyes flew over the page, eagerly taking in every single word – and again, his concentration was broken. Iris was tapping her foot against the table-leg of his desk in a frantic rhythm that made Barry wonder exactly **how** **many** coffees she must have had before coming to his room. She must have noticed him stopping reading and her tapping, because soon, Iris mumbled a quiet “sorry” and interlooped her legs in a manner that made it impossible for her to move them.

Barry continued reading, nearing the end of the chapter, still incredulous how J. K. Rowling could possibly allow Voldemort to kill off his childhood-hero... _**There are still a couple of pages left**_ , he tried to put his mind at ease and braced himself for the next chapter – _**King's Cross? What has that to do with anything happening right now?!**_ \- that, according to Iris, was going to surprise him.

And she was absolutely right.

Barry could feel his jaw dropping – _**what the actual?!!**_

“I **know** , right? This is completely freaky!” Iris chimed in, excitement evident in her voice.

“Iris, would you please stop staring at me? You're distracting me,” Barry groaned, shooting her an exasperated look...

 

In the end, he had somehow made it through the book. Reading while Iris had to wait obviously wasn't the way to go, so Barry suggested that she should just reread it in parallel to him. Of course, he had thought that she would hurry back to her room to get her copy, but instead, Iris had gotten up from his chair just to plop down next to him on the bed, telling him to “make room” for her. After some jostling they finally settled for lying on their stomachs right next to each other, the book lying centric in front of them. Admittedly, Barry's concentration suffered a little with Iris being pressed so closely against his side so that she wouldn't fall off the bed, but he managed to get the gist of what was happening. Also, Iris's review later on contained every single detail she deemed necessary (which meant like, nearly everything) and anything he might accidentally had read over, was elaborated afterward either way. Their animated conversation about the book was cut short (they had already been talking for over an hour) by Joe, who insisted they come downstairs for dinner. (Iris and Barry's protests weren't exactly coming across as convincing, not with their stomachs rumbling simultanously.) 

* * *

After another stressful day of running around Central City, apprehending bad guys, Barry finally made his way home. He found Iris sprawled on the couch, nose buried in a worn-out copy of  _ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix _ .

“Hey, I didn't know you were rereading the series again,” he greeted his girlfriend, surprised that she hadn't told him; after all, it was kind of their tradition to read it together.

“Well, since you were so busy this week and only came home to collapse onto the bed and sleep until you had to head over to work, I had plenty of time to read a bit,” Iris explained with a shrug.

Barry just nodded, pouting a little.

“But, “ Iris said, eyes twinkling playfully, “ if you hurry up and change, we can read the next chapter together; Harry and Cho are going to go to Madam Puddifoot's – it's going to be super” – _**whoosh**_ – “funny.”

“Alright, make room,” Barry grinned, now clad in casual clothes. It took them a couple of minutes until they found a position they were both comfortable with – they ended up with Iris nestled up against Barry's chest.

“Okay, you ready? I'm not going to wait forever for you to read the pages, so you better make use of your powers, Allen,” Iris teased, fiddling with the ribbon of her bookmark that was marking the beginning of chapter 25.

“Well, at least now we're evenly matched, Miss West,” Barry replied playfully, burying his nose in her hair.

Iris rolled her eyes. “You have speed reading, Bear.”

“So do you.” He replied earnestly, pecking her temple before urging Iris to open the book.

They cuddled up to each other and started reading.

** Fin. **

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> So according to my research, HPatDH came out in July 2007 in the US and I estimated that this would have been the year Barry and Iris graduated from high school. And Google told me that graduation usually takes place in May/early June... I hope that's correct ^^;
> 
> Also, I have this headcanon that both Barry and Iris are enormous potterheads - with Iris being even more enthusiastic than Barry; what do you guys think?


End file.
